


To Arms, To Death

by forylisse



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Clones, Cults, Deja Vu, F/F, F/M, Female My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Fire Emblem: Awakening Spoilers, Forbidden Love, Grim Reapers, M/M, Male My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 06:30:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14182929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forylisse/pseuds/forylisse
Summary: Only one soul to reap in order to atone for her past sin and prevent a tragic future. That one soul, however, defied its fate and refused to die.In order to atone for her grave mistakes, grim reaper Robin infiltrates the human realm to ensure the death of the soul who escaped her grasp and doomed humanity; the crown prince of Ylisse, Chrom.Fate, however, works in strange ways...*revised/restarted 1/25/19*





	To Arms, To Death

**Author's Note:**

> *1/25/19* Well, I finally found the time and the motivation to write again, since I've been intending on updating/fixing this since August I'd say. I updated my outline as well so at least I still remember the direction that I want to go in, lol.   
> Obviously everything belongs to Nintendo but let me just say: please, Nintendo, release more info about Three Houses. Please. I am so thirsty for new Fire Emblem content. Please.

The intertwining sounds of pained shouting and metal clanging created a bizarre harmony, accentuated by the thumping of bodies collapsing upon the ground, though Robin remained unfazed by it all. Instead, her grey eyes glazed with indifference as lives were snubbed out as easily as candle flames being blown away by a single breath. Corpses littered the emerald colored grass; the survivors scrambled to avoid stepping on their deceased comrades as they continued hurling themselves at their lone enemy, swords raised and shields out.   
Yet Robin stood in the middle of it all, weathered tome in hand, as a silent observer.

A bloody mess of a man thrust his sword in Robin’s direction.

From the man’s perspective, his blade had merely stabbed the empty air around him. 

“Goodness, you humans should really watch where you swing those things,” Robin grumbled to herself, sighing as the man unknowingly rushed right through her body in his dogged pursuit of battle. “And learn some manners as well. It wouldn’t kill you to say ‘excuse me’.”

“Excuse me!” A voice shouted, shattering Robin’s thoughts. It belonged to the lone enemy of the bloodied mass; a single cloaked figure wielding a chipped dagger. An oversized hood obscured the figure’s face, though a tuft of red hair peeked out from underneath the material. “Excuse me, can we all just take a moment and catch our breath?” 

“W-what?!” 

“Did I stutter? I said, can we all just take a moment and catch our breath?” 

The cloaked figure sauntered towards their enemies with a leisurely stride, an image which betrayed the bloodthirsty battle that had ceased mere moments prior. The other bloodied men (there were at least eight or so still alive, though Robin had given up counting a while ago, believing that they all looked too much alike with their identical armor) wore their bewilderment on their faces as they tightened their grips on their weapons.

“Come on, I won’t bite. Besides, my dagger’s broken,” The cloaked figure chuckled, removing their hood completely. The figure revealed themselves to be a petite woman with a head of bright red hair, tied in a small ponytail high above her neck. She took a deep breath of air and grinned. “Let’s just take a few minutes to breathe and then we can try to kill each other again. It’s more fun when both sides are energized, wouldn’t you agree?”

She opened the small pouch attached to her belt; after rummaging for a second, she presented her foes with a small pile of candy wrapped in bits of paper and twine ribbon.

“Well, gentlemen? Would anyone care for a little snack? My treat.”

At that moment, Robin’s tome began to emit a cerulean light. The thick book opened on its own, pages flipping wildly as the light became more intense, enveloping Robin’s arm in its glow. The symbol upon her hand shone in response right as the pages settled neatly. It was nearly time.

“W-we won’t fall for your tricks, scum!” The mass of foes replied aggressively, shaking off their confusion to resume their offensive positions. “Eat your candy in the afterlife!”

“Trick? I just told you, it’s a treat.”

In one swift motion, the red-haired woman flipped backwards, tossing her handful of candy while airborne. Upon making contact with both the ground and the bewildered men, the twine ribbon and paper withered away to a fine dust as the “candy” erupt into bursts of flames and smoke. The woman took this opportunity to run; likewise, Robin took this opportunity to begin her incantation.

She placed the palm of her marked hand upon the smooth yet weathered pages of her tome.

“Oh, wayward souls, awaken now from your earthly slumber!”.

As the words escaped her lips, Robin’s marked hand rose from the tome to the air as a sphere of celestial magic formed within her palm. The magic trickled down to the ground as though it was drops of rain, illuminating the earth with the same cerulean glow as the tome itself; a rune appeared beneath each corpse, extracting its deceased spirit as a small burst of light hovering above its empty vessel. The spirits absorbed themselves into the mass of magic still ensnaring Robin’s palm; once the absorption was complete, Robin placed her hand upon the pages of her tome once more, watching as the blank space filled with the names of the recently deceased.

“That sure was a great haul, wasn’t it?”

As Robin shut her tome, the red-haired woman from the skirmish returned to the vicinity. The latter smirked as she glanced at the corpses littering her feet; her eyes were beaming with a sense of pride at her battle prowess.

“Goodness, you should really learn some manners. It wouldn’t kill you to answer me, you know.”  
The woman looked right into Robin’s eyes and smiled.

Robin froze. Though part of her felt relieved knowing that humans could not see her-let alone detect her presence-Robin felt fear creep down her spine. She felt exposed.

“She’s just a human; there’s no possible way that she knows that I’m here,” Robin thought to herself worriedly. “I’m simply overthinking this. This human-probably unhinged, considering her manipulative tactics and large amount of enemies-may be repeating my words…but this must be a bizarre coincidence. Nothing more.” 

“…Ah, there you are, silly bird.”

A single black crow appeared above Robin’s shoulder, right next to the latter’s face, flapping its wings excitedly. The red-haired woman hummed in contentment as she extended a hand towards her winged companion who happily hopped upon her wrist as though it was a perch, grazing Robin in the process.  
Robin let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“So this human truly is unhinged…or perhaps I am, considering I was moments away from panicking about being seen. How foolish of me.”

The crow squawked eagerly before flapping its wings rapidly; gradually, the form of the crow shifted into the form of a young boy. In stark contrast to the crow’s ebony feathers, the boy possessed pale skin like porcelain and white hair. 

“Miss Anna, you’re alive!” The boy chirped happily, though his eyes remained peacefully closed. “Nya ha ha, I knew that those idiots could never harm you, even if they tried!”

“They can try but they definitely won’t succeed,” Anna replied, glancing at the men around her. “Anyway, while I made this commotion, did you do everything I asked you to?”

Robin, who had been watching the scene before her unfold curiously, sighed as she realized she had been wasting valuable time.

“I don’t need to linger here any longer. This Awakening is complete,” she thought to herself, though her sights remained fixed upon the mysterious duo. “However…a boy who can transform at will into a crow? How…strange.”

Whispering the words to the incantation so quietly that her lips barely parted, Robin cast the spell to teleport home. As the rune appeared beneath her to spirit her away, Robin belatedly realized that the crow was able to graze her.

 

—-

 

Intricate patterns of ethereal vines intertwined with the sturdy wooden bark of the Mila Tree greeted Robin upon her entrance as they did countless times before. Naga’s throne, which graced the center of the central area, shone with an otherworldly light despite being made of the same vine and bark combination as the interior walls. Flowers protruded from the small crevices of the intricate throne; each flower was an offering left upon an outside root from an avid believer. 

The throne, however, lacked its occupant. 

“My Goddess? Are you here, my Goddess?” Robin called out, her voice reverberating throughout the Tree. “I have returned.”

“Welcome back, my child.”

A gold and emerald toned dragon appeared at the sound of Naga’s voice, encircling Robin as though it was a dog greeting its owner. Its large eyes emanated a bright cerulean glow.

“Ah, hello there, Tiki,” Robin said, petting the back of the dragon’s head gently. “Playing messenger again?”

“So you have returned, my child,” the goddess’s voice said warmly, emanating from the unmoving mouth of the small dragon. “I await you in the Sanctuary. Make haste.”

The cerulean glow slowly faded from the dragon’s eyes, returning them to their typical shade of mossy green. Within seconds of their return to normalcy, however, the dragon curled itself into a ball and vanished into a flurry of golden specks of light.

“Back to sleep already, huh, Tiki?” 

Protruding from the walls were platforms made of weathered marble tiles, encircling the inner sanctum of the Tree to form a cylindrical staircase leading to the only three areas within the Tree. At the base of the tree-the lowest level-were the ruins of an ancient shrine, which also served as Robin’s resting quarters. The middle of the tree-where Robin currently stood-contained Naga’s throneroom. The top of the tree-the highest level-was referred to as the Sanctuary.

“I’ve been awaiting you, my child.”

The branches of the Mila Tree were brimming with glistening iridescent leaves, canopying the Sanctuary with an illuminant glow. The floor was a large platform comprised of the same marble tiles which formed the staircase; vines and moss intertwined along the edges of the Tree to create a balcony of sorts, providing a view spanning the continent. 

Naga stood with her back to Robin, her sight set upon the view before her. 

“My Goddess, I reunite you with these souls.”

Robin flipped open her tome, watching as the spirits left its pages and levitated towards the branches overhead, transforming into a leaf which was added amongst the others. 

“Excellent work, my child,” the goddess stated, her voice betraying no emotion. “However, I fear that your work may not be enough.”

“My Goddess? What have I done wrong?”

In Naga’s hand was a single black feather.

“Grima’s forces have infiltrated the Sanctuary,” Naga stated grimly, finally turning to meet Robin’s eyes. “The spirit leaves…the innocent souls of the deceased…have been stolen and the barrier which protects this sacred place has been shattered. If my suspicions are correct, Grima is using them to create his own army. The Risen.”

“The Risen…?”

“Yes, and the ghastly fiends will stop at nothing to destroy the peace that I have worked so hard to maintain. I have used a large amount of power to foresee the future if these demons acquire the power that they so desperately desire in the name of Grima. They will murder innocent lives, torch civilizations into ashes, and slaughter me where I stand. Amongst their ranks was a demonic crow who could take the guise of a human.”

The goddess’s bright emerald eyes shone resolutely. 

“My Goddess, I would never allow those forces to harm you-“

“It doesn’t matter what you would allow, Robin, if you prove too weak and dependent to ignore your logic. You had the opportunity to slay that shapeshifting demon where he stood yet you enabled him to live. Do not think that you can act without my knowledge.”

“H-how was I to know…?” 

“My dear child…you have never once felt the woes of illness or the echoes of hunger, you have never once felt the weight of exhaustion drop upon your shoulders, and yet you are so far from perfection,” the goddess stated. “Have I wasted too much time and energy in shaping you to be my protege, my pupil, my support? Do not forget that you have already failed me once before. I granted you mercy out of sheer affection, my dear child, yet after all this time, you refuse to act upon any intuition to eliminate unforeseen and unexplainable forces. Do you intend to usher the world into chaos with your ignorance?”

Robin flinched, her legs finally surrendering to their emotions, dropping her to the ground in a melancholic slump. Her eyes remained fixed upon the ground, choosing to analyze the ornate engravings upon the tile rather than Naga’s stern gaze. When she tried to draw upon her memories, it was as though she was searching for a light in an incomprehensible haze of fog.

Only one image appeared in her mind. A blurry, hazy image of a disfigured corpse, riddled with stab wounds.

“I-I do not remember my first failure, my Goddess, but I do remember the guilt and the shame. Please. Please, allow me one more chance to prove my devotion to you. Please.”

Naga directed her gaze upwards. 

“Do not lose hope yet, my precious child, for there is one more Awakening that may save us…provided that you do not fail.”

“Please, my Goddess, tell me what it is and I will never let you down again.”

“The only way to prevent the grim future that I have foreseen is to Awaken a soul of the Exalted bloodline. And Prince Chrom is fated to die tonight.”

“P-Prince Chrom?” Robin stuttered, snapping out of her worried haze. “Of the halidom of Ylisse?”

Naga glanced at Robin firmly, her lips pressed into a tight line. She, however, said nothing and merely nodded.

“Precisely. His soul will be the key to preventing this chaotic future from unfolding, my dear child, as it will reinforce our barrier and revive my powers as well. You must collect his soul, regardless of what it may take. Are you willing-and capable-of doing so?”

“Of course, my Goddess. I will not let anything stop me.”

**Author's Note:**

> The other chapters will definitely be longer, my three brain cells and I are just struggling with the speed of things


End file.
